Six of the best culinary trips around the world

You learn a great deal about a country through experiencing its food, so a bespoke trip organised by experts could be just the ticket

An army marches on its stomach, said Napoleon. If you do too, Hayes & Jarvis can arrange a bespoke holiday that will showcase virtually any celebrated world cuisine in its natural habitat, and even teach you how to cook it – as well as arranging plenty of other signature activities to walk off the pounds again.

Whether you’re a connoisseur of craft beers, a pho noodle fanatic or a Deep South barbecue enthusiast, there is an epicurean itinerary waiting to be created to help you explore your passions and enjoy a gastronomic adventure. All you need to do is consult the experts.

Brew England

New England’s cultured cities and shingle-clad towns are renowned for their craft breweries. Explore them with your own Hayes & Jarvis beerologist (a real word, by the way) and learn all the secrets of making the perfect pint while meeting the magicians who do it.

There’s Portland, Maine, named the world’s No 1 craft-beer city and home to more than 30 breweries and brew pubs. And Portsmouth’s craft brewers are as traditional as its cobbled streets and colonial architecture.

Top of the hops: New England is renowned for its craft breweriesCredit:
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Vermont has one of America’s highest ratios of breweries to people and boasts its own IPA Highway from vat to vat. And in Boston you can worship at the spiritual home of the craft beer movement, the Boston Beer Co (don’t miss its Sam Adams brew).

Rio Culinary Tour

Everyone knows Rio de Janeiro is a feast for the eyes and ears. But let Hayes & Jarvis show you the cream of the city’s eateries and you’ll realise it’s a foodie feast too.

Foodie feast: the coal-prepared meats at Giuseppe Grill are said to be the best in Rio

There’s Michelin-starred Oro, where celebrity chef Felipe Bronze dreams up tasting menus of up to nine courses. Giuseppe Grill, whose coal-prepared meats are reckoned the best in Rio (washed down by a choice of more than 600 wines). And Olympe, where French chef Claude Troisgros has spent 40 years blending Brazilian flavours and Gallic cuisine.

Want to take home a taste of Rio? You can visit a street market then learn a mix of Brazil’s favourite recipes in a cooking class. And you’ll want to learn to dance the Brazilian way at one of the city’s top samba schools.

Vietnam Culinary Experience

Vietnamese cuisine is a hit in the UK, so Hayes & Jarvis can arrange a private escorted tour where you can sample it in Vietnam’s principal cities.

The Vietnam Cookery Centre in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) can teach you popular dishes such as blending ingredients to create nuoc mam fish sauce. They’ll initiate you into the intricacies of Vietnamese dining etiquette and how to use chopsticks while wearing a white shirt.

Culinary masterclass: learn how to cook Vietnamese-styleCredit:
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At the Hanoi Cooking Centre your chef-instructor will show you round Chau Long Market and explain how to gauge the freshest ingredients, from veg to silk worms, before teaching you to use them in a delicious menu.

But you don’t have to do all the cooking. Hayes & Jarvis can also arrange a dragonboat cruise on the Saigon River where a culinary corps de ballet of show cooks will prepare a banquet before your eyes, and show you where to get the tastiest street food, such as pho (noodle soup) for a traditional breakfast.

Gourmet Japan

Ever come home wishing you could recreate some of the fabulous food you’ve eaten while away? Take a self-guided tour of Japan with Hayes & Jarvis and you can learn how to do just that.

In the former imperial capital of Kyoto you could take a half-day private cooking class with professional chef Hirokazu Nagano, and join a Bento class to learn the art of making traditional Japanese dishes such as sushi, tempura and miso soup (and, of course, eat the results).

A taste of Japan: learn the art of making traditional Japanese dishesCredit:
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Hayes & Jarvis can guide you to some of Japan’s tastiest eating spots, including Osaka’s Dotombori Honten crab restaurant and Takimi-koji street food centre, Kanazawa’s famous Omicho Market for a sushi lunch and Kyoto’s Honke Owariya, which has perfected its soba udon noodles and rice cakes over 500 years.

You can also experience Japan’s exquisite gourmet traditions, including an authentic meal in a traditional ryokan (guesthouse) and a 400-year-old Japanese tea ceremony.

In between you’ll experience the exotic magic of Japan, from Tokyo’s shrines and shops and Kyoto’s temples and palaces to beautiful gardens, Samurai mansions and the hot springs of Mount Fuji National Park.

Bluegrass and Bourbon Trail

The USA’s Deep South is famed for soul food and soul music – and Hayes & Jarvis can create a private tour that’s as perfectly blended as a glass of Jack Daniel’s.

Why not start in Memphis, birthplace of the blues, where you can pay homage to The King at Graceland before hitting the BBQ joints and bars on Beale Street? Whether it’s whiskey-glazed barbecued ribs or chicken-fried chicken and gravy (so good they named it twice), you’ll find it among a score of live venues such as the legendary Hard Rock Café.

Walking in Memphis: visit the BBQ joints and bars on Beale StreetCredit:
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Drive on to Lynchburg in Bourbon country, home of the celebrated Jack Daniel’s, America’s oldest registered distillery, where they will explain how they make their signature, charcoal-mellowed whiskey. Some finds its way downtown to artisan sweetshop Nina’s Taste of Tennessee to be blended into delicious sweet treats.

In Glen Miller’s Chattanooga you can taste the original marshmallow-filled Moon Pie, the South’s favourite snack, invented here in 1917.

And don’t miss the stunning Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Louisville, home to the Kentucky Derby and of course, for music fans, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Cape Winelands

Just a short drive from Cape Town is the Cape Wine Region, where you could spend days sampling world-class vintages at centuries-old vineyards.

Artsy Stellenbosch makes a perfect base, its oak-shaded streets lined with art galleries, boutiques and cosy bistros. Pack a gourmet picnic and drive through hills stippled with vines, or dine alfresco at a winery with mountain views.

Franschhoek is South Africa’s gourmet capital, where foodies flock for leisurely brunches in chic pavement cafes and the nine-course tasting menu at Le Quartier Français, voted one of the world’s 100 best restaurants.

Let Hayes & Jarvis show you round, tip you off about the best vintages and book you into one of the region’s beautiful boutique hotels.

For more information on how Hayes & Jarvis can work with you to create your dream holiday, visit hayesandjarvis.co.uk

Complimentary VIP airport transfers (book by 31 January 2019, applicable to addresses within 75 miles of departure airport).